College of Liberal and Applied Arts
Chair Council Minutes
October 1, 2012
The meeting began at 2:30pm in room 273D of the Ferguson Building. People in attendance included the following:
Dr. Kwame Antwi-Boasiako (Government)
Dr. Freddie Avant, Social Work
Dr. Mark Barringer (History)
MSG Shawn Burnah (Military Science)
Dr. Ray Darville (College Council)
Ms. Dixie Groll, Dean’s Office
Dr. Marc Guidry (Associate Dean)
Dr. John Hendricks (Media)
Dr. Mike Martin (Multidisciplinary Programs)
Dr. Brian Murphy (Dean)
Dr. Mark Sanders (English)
Dr. Robert Szafran (Social Analysis)
Dr. Jeana Paul-Ureña (Languages & Communication)
Dr. Jerry Williams (Psychology)
Dean Brian Murphy opened the meeting with a discussion of two issues that have caused graduation problems for
students. The first involves programs that allow students to “double dip” by applying the same course to fulfill two or more
graduation requirements. The College’s informal practice has been to limit students to 6-7 hours of double-dipping but no
formal policy has institutionalized the practice. The chairs agreed to a policy that would ordinarily limit students to 6-7
hours of double-dipping so long as exceptions could be granted with permission of the dean. This proposal will be
forwarded to the College Council and, after Council input, will be inserted into the upcoming undergraduate bulletin.
The second issue concerns the College’s advanced hour requirement of 42 hours. This requirement was in place prior to
the conversion to 120-hour degree plans and is now causing repeated difficulties for students. At SFA, only the College of
Business has a similar requirement, with all other colleges mandating 36 hours of advanced course work. The chairs
agreed to align the College’s advanced hour requirement with the institutional norm. This proposal will be forwarded to the
College Council and, after Council input, will be inserted into the upcoming undergraduate bulletin.
Dean Murphy sought to clarify the College’s newly revised writing requirement that replaces the long-standing Writing
Enhanced Policy. The chairs and College Council earlier agreed that each department must establish its own guidelines
on the amounts and type of writing that majors will be expected to complete in order to graduate. All departmental writing
policies have been formulated and approved. However, the current undergraduate bulletin (2011-2012) is silent on the
issue of discipline-specific writing expectations. Dean Murphy reminded chairs, as explained in an email about a year ago,
that students falling under the current bulletin would be held to their department’s new writing policy. Academic advisors
should be informed about how this issue will be handled.
Dean Murphy asked the chairs with programs under academic review (English, History, Government, and Psychology) to
provide an update on the status of their success in data collection. It was agreed that a meeting in early November would
be called to develop a template on how to compose a report consistent with university and Coordinating Board guidelines.
Dean Murphy presented a statement by the university’s General Counsel on the types of syllabi that must be posted each
semester to comply with state law. According to the General Counsel, only undergraduate courses offered to five or more
students must be posted. Since it is unclear whether online courses are included under this definition, Dean Murphy
promised to obtain clarification.
Drs. Freddie Avant and Kwame Antwi-Boasiako presented a proposal on standardizing reassignment expectations for
graduate coordinators and assessment coordinators. After suggestions for modification, the proposals will be redrafted
and considered at the next chairs meeting.
Dean Murphy announced that the steering committee for the College’s strategic plan has been appointed and its initial
meeting will occur on October 3, 2012. Similarly, the committee arranging this year’s Alumni Mentoring event will conduct
its preliminary meeting on October 2, 2012. Dean Murphy noted that the university’s computer replacement funding will be
partially restored for the upcoming year but the amount allocated to Academic Affairs still remains to be determined.
At the chairs retreat during the summer, a discussion took place on bringing greater consistency to the College’s
assessment plans. Dean Murphy raised the issue of how to follow up on this discussion. It was decided that only unit
goals would be addressed during the current academic year. Dean Murphy asked for volunteers to serve on a committee
to establish a template for this purpose.
Dean Murphy distributed departmental requests for HEF (instructional capital) funding. The amounts sought exceeded the
College’s allotment and a subsequent special meeting will be called to resolve the situation. Dean Murphy reminded the
chairs that classrooms would continue to constitute the priority item in making funding decisions.
Dr. Robert Szafran, one of the College’s representatives to the Core Curriculum Advisory Committee, provided an update
on the committee’s charge and operating procedures. Dean Murphy concluded with a remainder about fast-approaching
deadlines.
The meeting adjourned at 4:07 pm.
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